So what happens to the disease when there is no alcohol? Compulsive gambling is also a disease, isn't it? Does that mean addiction to cigarettes is a disease too? No one seems to be treating cigarette smokers as if they were ill, rather than an illness. No, I think alcoholism is a condition at best. Calling it a disease elevates it to another level and that sends a massage. "It's OK, it's not your fault". That's not the case with a pot smoker or heroine addict. No one ever says just "drugs" it's always "drugs and alcohol", as if they were separate things. I suppose this all started when the "white man" arrived on the scene and took charge of all the other colors. Who's drug of choice do you think ended up being the legal one? I'm not for prohibition, but that is irrelevant. I am for equality, and that isn't irrelevant.